Wall Street Charging Bull sculptor Arturo Di Modica dies aged 80 - Italian media

Wall Street Charging Bull sculptor Arturo Di Modica dies aged 80 - Italian media

FILE PHOTO: A statue of a girl facing the Wall St. Bull is seen, as part of a campaign by U.S. fund manager State Street to push companies to put women on their boards, in the financial district in New York, U.S., March 7, 2017. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid/File Photo

MILAN (Reuters) - Arturo Di Modica, the sculptor of Wall Street's "Charging Bull" statue has died in his home town of Vittoria, Sicily, Italian media reported on Saturday, citing friends of the Italian artist.

Di Modica, who recently turned 80, had been fighting cancer for many years, La Repubblica daily said.

Located in Bowling Green at the heart of Manhattan's financial district, the 7,100-pound sculpture, Di Modica's most famous, became a symbol of New York City.

Originally appearing as guerrilla art, it was unofficially installed in front of the New York Stock Exchange by Di Modica in 1989 and intended to convey the fighting spirit of the United States and of New York.

After police seized the sculpture, public outcry led the city's parks department to reinstall it days later at its current location nearby.

(Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro, Editing by Kirsten Donovan)